7 Christmas movies filmed in Ontario where snow is real and permits are cheap

They don't call it Hollywood North for nothing. Ontario is one of the biggest hubs for film and TV production, and while you're watching your favourite holiday movies this month in your comfiest pyjamas, you'll notice some familiar locations.

The province has been the backdrop for countless Christmas movies over the years, from cheesy Hallmark movies to Netflix blockbusters, with locations ranging beyond Toronto to towns like North Bay, Bracebridge, and Hamilton. 

Here are 7 Christmas movies that were actually filmed in Ontario. 

The Santa Clause (1994)

In this classic movie, Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin, a typical suburban dad whose life gets flipped upside down when he accidentally stumbles into becoming the new Santa Claus.

Oakville, Ont. stood in as the setting of Lakeside, Illinois. In fact, the house where they filmed the infamous scene of Allen's character falling off the roof was on17 Chisholm St. It's still around and available to rent out on Airbnb. 

Christmas Inheritance (2017)

In this feel-good Netflix movie, Jake Lacey ("Plop" from The Office) plays a small-town guy who helps a big-city hotel heiress learn the true meaning of Christmas … and anticapitalism. A tale as old as time.

While it's set in a fictional New England town, the movie was actually filmed around North Bay and Niagara-on-the-Lake. The Grand Victorian Inn in NOTL stands in as the Snow Falls Hotel, while the North Bay Museum stands in as a train station where a good chunk of scenes take place.

The Knight Before Christmas (2019)

An extra-cheesy holiday movie starring Vanessa Hudgens about a medieval knight transported to the present day, where he falls for a high school science teacher who's lost her belief in love – aww.

The film is set in the fictional town of Bridgebridge, Ohio, but get this: it was actually filmed in Bracebridge, Ont. The small town, known for its Christmas-themed amusement park, seemed like the perfect setting for a holiday movie. 

John Medland/Disney

A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (2025)

While plenty of films are shot in New York and London, this new holiday movie starring Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas of the Jonas Brothers was filmed in Toronto and Hamilton. Toronto's Casa Loma stood in for Buckingham Palace, while the swanky, renovated Massey Hall was used as the concert venue where the bros performed. If you look closely, you can also spot St. Lawrence Market and the Coca-Cola Coliseum in the background as well. 

A Christmas Story (1983)

Set in the '40s, this holiday classic tracks nine-year-old Ralphie Parker's quest to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. If you've seen this movie 100 times, you'll recall the scene where Ralphie's classmate Flick gets his tongue frozen to a pole. The school just so happened to be Victoria School in Toronto (which was since shut down and replaced by a shelter at 173 Niagara St.). Other notable spots used for filming include Chop Suey Palace at 744 Gerrard St. E. (now a French restaurant, Batifole) and the Cherry Street Bridge.

Freevee

Hotel for the Holidays (2022)

This will-they-won't-they romcom stars Madelaine Petsch and Mena Massoud, aka Cheryl Blossom and Aladdin. It takes place at a fancy Plaza-esque hotel in New York City when, in fact, production took place in Ottawa. The equally luxurious Fairmont Chateau Laurier was used as a stand-in as the two leads fell into a love triangle with a prince. (Seriously, why is there always a prince?!)

The Christmas Setup (2020)

Lifetime's first queer holiday movie is about sparks flying between an ambitious New York lawyer who runs into his high school crush when travelling to Milwaukee for the holidays. Rather than take production over to Brooklyn, it seems it made more sense to film in Ottawa and the nearby towns of Almonte, Carleton Place, Arnprior, and Smiths Falls to get the cozy, festive atmosphere down pat.